Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has revealed one David Bowie song that he will not be including in the much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 soundtrack. According to Gunn, he will not be using Bowie’s iconic song “Heroes” for Guardians 3; there had been growing speculation that Gunn would be using “Heroes” for a deeply emotional moment his final chapter of the Guardians Trilogy: Rocket Raccoon’s funeral. However, based on what James Gunn shared with a fan on social media, we won’t be getting that moment – at least, not scored to David Bowie’s “Heroes”.
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It’s been used too much for me
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 27, 2021
The songs are written into the script. The storyboards are designed into the rhythm of the songs. Sometimes I’ll use timecode for the songs so the editors know exactly what piece of a song should land on what shot. https://t.co/vAKCTgPyUW
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 26, 2021
On the surface, David Bowie’s “Heroes” seems like the perfect kind of song to help cap off the final chapter of Guardians of the Galaxy – but when you look a little closer, it’s not the best choice. James Gunn has made a signature style out of marrying retro music with some of the most outrageous visual concepts there are. Sure, seeing the Guardians team slow-motion walk to Blue Swede’s “Hooked On A Feeling” may feel like the height of normality now, but before the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, the idea of that classic rock track going with images of green-skinned aliens a foul-mouthed space raccoon and monosyllabic tree creature would’ve sounded pretty crazy. But thanks to Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios, it’s now a bonafide style trend in blockbuster movies.
That’s all to say: James Gunn will be picking less obvious and on-the-nose musical cues for his third entry in the Guardians franchise, but rest assured that they will quickly blow up and be just as popular as every other track Gunn has used to score his two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. In fact, at this point, Disney and Marvel are pretty much counting on Gunn knocking it out of the park with this Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix releases, as they’ve become a bonafide revenue stream alongside the films.
Of course, it must be noted that Gunn simply said that he would not play Bowie’s “Heroes” during a scene of Rocket Raccoon’s funeral – no assurance to fans that Marvel’s fan-favorite space “rabbit” is safe from his own demise in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3. Fans may seriously need to get emotionally prepared to see Rocket follow his old buddy Groot into the great beyond… Hopefully to the sounds of a powerful musical track.
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 is set to hit theaters on May 5, 2023.
